What happens when you mix Mortal Kombat and tower defense? You slap a 80 points price tag on it and name it Ranger, Silver Dollar Games’ newest XBL Indie title. It’s this odd combination that separates Ranger from the games that have influenced it.
As the elven race’s deadliest (albeit immobile) archer, players will take up quiver and bow against a wide assortment of hostiles as they attempt to march into the elves’ territory. Being the most formidable guardian of your race, it’s up to you to hold the line and fight back a host of spiders, trolls, goblins, humans, and even stranger creatures. The odds are definitely against you.
Solace can be found in your quiver, however. As a one-elf-army, the ranger doesn’t settle for mundane arrows. Instead, during the course of the game, mana symbols and modifiers will stream down in front of your character’s bow. Firing an arrow into a mana symbol will acquire one unit of that particular color of magical energy, whereas loosing an arrow through a modifier will unleash chaos.
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After collecting mana, this magical energy can be expended to unleash magical spells. Lightning, for instance, will damage more than one enemy, while fire will cause lots of damage. Modifiers, however, take effect as soon as they are hit. While these powers can convert an ordinary arrow into shurikens, sawblades, and scythes, combining a magic spell with a modifier can spell a swift and gruesome death for many of your foes. With such violent potential as unleashing giant spinning shurikens of doom, it’s no wonder why the ranger is the most elite force the elven race has to offer.
If magic, modifiers, or the multitude of combinations ever seem bland, the ranger has one last trick up her sleeve; she may occasionally summon dragons. Dragons are only available now and then, but the draconic guardians certainly know how to make an entrance. When they manifest (which is done in an assortment of animations), dragons clear the screen of foes and restore life to the ardent ranger.
If saving the elves isn’t your cuppa, dexterous archers can build kill chains for rank increases. As each goblin, troll, and human falls, your ranger’s rank will ascent from Marksman, to Woodsman, to Huntsman and higher. This promotion system is documented in real-time and appears as a widget at the screen’s border.
Ranger is an attractive game, with rich colors and in-depth voice acting. As the narrator booms the name of each of your fatal attack combinations, it’s almost enough to distract you from the mild frustration of the limited controls. This complaint aside, Ranger provides a unique marriage of genres in an affordable Indie title that shouldn’t be overlooked.
You can find more information as well as download the trial and full versions of the game on the Marketplace.
Review by Iggypu
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